SYDNEY, 26 October 2018 – The St.George Lebanese Film Festival (LFF) has wrapped up its seventh edition, with a record crowd attendance of 4,700 patrons.
Up from 3,400 attendees in 2017, this year’s success comes off the back of Lebanon’s most successful year in cinema both internationally and in Australia.
Officially opening in Bankstown under the Patronage of Australian film legend Bryan Brown in August, and supported by City of Canterbury-Bankstown for the seventh consecutive year, the LFF attracted over 2,800 patrons to Bankstown. Of these patrons, an estimated 1,950 dined locally and 1,400 shopped locally throughout the 17 day event, injecting an estimated 180, 000 dollars into the local economy. LFF visitors included patrons from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Regional NSW to Bankstown.
Having toured six Australian cities and towns, LFF showcased 19 features, short and documentary films, many of which have been awarded on the international film festival circuit. Among the powerful LFF film line up, Ziad Doueriri’s The Insult has been awarded LFF Film of the Year.
Standing as Lebanon’s first Oscar Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film (2018), The Insult was also awarded the Sydney Film Festival Audience Award and proved to be one of the LFF crowd favourites with numerous sold out sessions.
“This announcement brings me tremendous joy” says Doueiri. “Thank you to the Lebanese Film Festival in Australia. This film works within different layers, and in my view this is where its strength lies. It’s about the injustices done to the Palestinians, it’s about the Christians who have been side-tracked and stigmatised and it’s about freedom of speech in Lebanon.”
Also of particular interest in this year’s program was Nadine Labaki’s Capharnaüm, which was awarded this year’s Cannes Jury Prize and the Melbourne International Film Festival’s Audience Award.
LFF Director, Mr Camille Lattouf says, “This year has truly been a landmark year for the Lebanese film industry, with exceptional films touching on very sensitive yet important issues for Lebanon. We are proud to have been able to showcase the best that Lebanese cinema has to offer to audiences across Bankstown, Sydney, Newcastle, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and Bowral.”
Proudly supported by St.George Bank as naming rights sponsor, City of Canterbury Bankstown and HOYTS to name a few, LFF is now gearing up for its 2019 edition, set to open in Bankstown on Friday, 19 August 2019. Film submissions are open and local entries are encouraged.
For more information, head to www.lff.org.au.
Julia Lattouf
Manager, Public Affairs and Marketing Lebanese Film Festival
julia@lff.org.au
+61 422 408 399
